Sky Trenchline
by Stella Caverly
Summary: It's the new millennia. The Earth now orbits as fragmented blocks of floating land, known as the sphere. Food and water are scarce. Life dwindles. Oto, a governing dictatorship, threatens to destroy the world further. But amongst the chaos are heroes; a band of pirates revered as the Konoha 12. This is their story. Sasuke/Sakura and Naruto/Hinata. Inspired by Skyland. AU
1. War

**CHAPTER 1: WAR**

 _SASUKE_

Something's there. I can't see it against the pitch darkness of the night, but something's coming towards us, and I know it. Call it a sixth sense, or intuition. My crew members call it paranoia, but they don't complain too much when my paranoia saves their asses.I like to think of it as a sign of experience, but who knows? Maybe it's a sign that I'm losing it.

Everyone loses something in war.

My second-in-command-Naruto-can feel it too, though. He's thumbing the silver cross that he carries around with him for luck, and reaching for the binoculars perched against the watch station. I've always scoffed at him for believing in superstition, but he knows I've got my own charm tucked away against my chest.

We've all got things that keep us going. Mine's from a girl.

Her name's Sakura. I called her baby, back in the old world, before the war. But we're in the sphere now; there are three things I know about myself in the new world.

One, I'm the leader of a band of pirates with a bounty as big as the sphere on our heads. Two, I hate myself for letting go a girl that made me want to live. Even if it was for her sake. And three, I really hate myself, because I don't even know if she's alive.

"Do you reckon it's another one from Oto- scouts?" Naruto growls. "Fuckers must be gettin' desperate sendin' spies down here."

I grunt in reply. Could be a spy unit, could be anything. Might even be a supply carrier from Oto, tryna steal water from civilian forces. It won't be the first time they've taken everything and left a town to starve. The sector we're in is a civilian zone, not even farmland, but the bastards might be getting desperate after we blew up two of their major food ports. I smirk.

They don't know these sectors like we do though; this is pirate land.

"Don't engage," I tell Naruto, who's already radioing in the rest of the crew on night watch. "Wait for my signal. Shikamaru, you receiving?" The radio's crackly from the shitty service on the hill, but it does the job.

"Roger that, Commander. We've got an Oto ship, model 347, approaching sector 72."

Model 347. Those are warships. Large and steel-plated, fitted with machine guns and cannons on either side like ribbed daggers. It's a long way away from the battlefield. What're warships doing out here in civilian land?

"Naruto." He looks at me from the binoculars. "Naruto, they know."

His eyes widen fractionally, before they narrow into slits. Because it's happened again. Someone's ratted out that the most wanted pirates in the sphere are using this tranquil block of land as a base for operations. And they're gonna gun it down. They're gonna kill everyone. Civilians be damned. "Goddammit!" I snarl. "We've got a mole on us. Shikamaru, you reading? Get the civilians outta here. Land our airship at the port. Naruto, alert the team, we're evacuating. Call the siren."

There's a shuffle in the town below, as the siren, a high-pitched screech designed to preclude death itself, goes off. "Commander." I look back as I'm packing up the weaponry and personnel. Naruto almost never addresses me as commander, as much as I address him as my right-hand man. It's implicit, and I don't like overusing words. My eyes are questioning, but he looks away, begins lighting up a stack of files filled with sensitive intel. Double agents, allies, battle plans; the like.

Everything goes up in crackling flames.

"Team 6. Have they-" He stops. Then murmurs, "Never mind, must be paranoid."

I shift my attention back to the gated exit and begin knocking down the steel plate. "Dobe, there ain't time. Let's get the hell outta here. Shikamaru, you reading?"

"Rodger, Commander. I've landed at Port Angel. Team Gai are rounding up the last civilians, I've got nearly everyone in the carrier."

"Status on Oto?"

"Approaching the archipelago, we have five minutes' max before interception. I'll need to leave in two minutes if we don't wanna engage."

"Rodger, leave in two minutes. We can't engage with civilians on board. Over." Shikamaru doesn't reply, he must be wondering about our status- Team 7- but he doesn't question me.

"Let's move out!" I yell to Naruto, who grabs a gun and tosses me my revolver. Then we run.

* * *

We're down the steps of the watchtower in seconds, across the bridge and through the town. Years of living on the run make you especially good at it. The first shots ring, deafening against the quiet of the night. They're miles away, but Oto ships always have good long-range attacks. That's how they do it; destroy, retreat.

Never getting close enough to be caught in the wreckage.

Bastards.

A second round of shots rain down; canons this time. The harbours destroyed. The main village too. Something in me stirs, but I ignore it. Now isn't the time to feel sentimental, when you're gunning it down the south side of a sleepy little village that's now wide awake with war and hellfire. The town blurs in the corner of my vision, and my senses are clouded by the siren, the canons, the bits of shrapnel raining down on us like hell on Earth. Except not really, because there is no Earth anymore. Just blocks of floating land, and pieces of a world we used to live in. There's a massive shift in the island as the harbour fractures off the peninsula, drifting away.

Ain't it funny how even when everything's broken, there's still room for it to break some more.

"Naruto! Radio Team Gai and get status of the evacuation."

Everything is noise; deafening and everywhere, but all I hear is silence. I whip around.

"Naruto!"

There's no reply, nothing from my radio either. Naruto's nowhere to be seen. We must've lost each other ages ago.

Shit. Under the light of the town going up in ashes, I can see something approaching. It's a distance away, but I've always had good sight. Good eyes, someone used to tell me. So, I see them before they see me. Soldiers; Oto's dirty workers. The major war mongers never go to war zones. They just release their bombs from above in their airships, activate the machine guns, load the cannons.

I grit my teeth and do a quick scan across the platoon. There's a whole army, decked in steel with nothing to live for except hardwired instructions to destroy circuited into their brain-dead minds. I reach for a grenade from my weapon sack. There ain't no way I can win this, but Naruto's here and I don't leave my men behind. They haven't noticed me, yet. But there's nowhere to hide on a terrain as flat as this.

It rings in my head that tonight might be the night that I die.

In the back of my mind, I see green eyes; bright and shiny, wet with tears, begging me to stay. A pink haired girl; gorgeous and breathless screaming at me on a chilly night in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me why I need to stay alive.

"Commander, what's your status? We've evacuated. We're preparing for take-off."

It's Shikamaru. "Rodger. Go forward." There's a pause.

"Go forward, Shikamaru," I say again, harder this time. "That's an order." Shikamaru's my head strategist, but I'm still commander.

There's another pause, but it's shorter. "Rodger that, preparing for take-off." There's another crackle, then the line goes dead.

I'm alone.

I count four rows of enemy soldiers, as they approach, ten in each row. Forty in total. They're decked in steel, marching down the dunes like a wave. I have fifteen rounds of ammo. Five grenades. And I've always been proud of my battle skill, but even I don't like those odds. Behind me, I can hear the ship taking off, engine's roaring. For a moment, I think the Oto ship has intercepted it, but there's only the sound of an engine revving, before the Konoha 12 weaves through the cluster of islands and disappears in the night. I smirk as Oto gets lost behind among the islands, inexpertly weaving through the sectors.

This is our land.

"Sasuke." The voice is crackly, almost unintelligible, but I hear it all the same.

"Is that you, dobe? Where the fuck are you?"

"Not telling."

I nearly drop the radio. "What the fuck?" I growl.

"Not telling, cos you'll come get me if I tell you. And you need to get outta here, man."

I snarl into the radio. "Fuckin' hell, this ain't the time to be playin' games, Naruto! Tell me where the hell you are!"

The soldiers are approaching in a row. They're a couple hundred meters away now, but while you'd think it'd be easy moving through flat terrain, it isn't. Not when there's fires blazing down across the bridge, flaring up in dry, grassy patches. Their armour, steel-capped, makes them twice as big and heavy. I'll only be within their hit range if they come a bit closer. But I'm a lot faster than them. If I can get to the weaponry over the cliff, I might be able to take them down, round back and grab Naruto. There's a small incline over the cliff, hidden by a sheath of weeds. We can hide there; plan the next move.

We could survive.

I scan the area. The side bridge through to the main town's been bombed. The only way I can get through back into town to find him is to cross through the terrain, which means engaging with the army. Nearly impossible. In the corner of my eye, I can see the Oto ship approaching the island again. Good. Shikamaru must've lost 'em.

"Do you remember when we joined the rebellion, teme?" It's Naruto again. He sounds wistful, so painfully poignant beyond his years as if we're still sittin' on top of the watch tower reminiscing about the past. It's so different from the man I'm used to, I'd scoff, if the ground wasn't exploding beneath me.

"Naruto..." I growl.

I grip the radio tightly and sprint, cinders brushing against my skin. Above me, I can see the Oto ship rounding on the field. They're too high up to lock on me, but they know I'm here. I can imagine the smug smirk on the captain's face. Sasuke Uchiha, ringleader of one of the most notorious pirate gangs in all of the sphere, cornered. They're not opening fire. They don't want me to die. There are worse things than death, and they've got 'em all planned for me. Too bad for them, though.

I never go down that easy.

There's a chuckle over the radio, but I can tell he's breathing heavily. Like he's been hit. "I remember the first time we joined the rebellion. Our first mission as Team 7. I know you miss her."

The radio's crackling, almost about to die, but I grip it and roar into it. "Goddamit, Naruto! Stop fuckin' around. Tell me where you are! This is an order!"

He continues as if I hadn't spoken. "I know you miss her, Sasuke. I know you miss your girl." Naruto says again. There's another pause.

I stiffen at the mention of her. My girl.

Behind me, a canon goes off; the entire port rips up in flames. In front of me, the army starts firing a round of shrapnel. They've noticed me now, but their aims dodgy because they can't pin me down. I shoot a few rings to take some of 'em down, but I've only got so much ammo, and my aim ain't perfect when the ground's tilted and I'm tryna dodge rounds and the only light I got is from the fires blazing behind me. I don't know if I can make it to the weaponry.

Maybe this is it.

The radio crackles to life again, increasingly less intelligible as Naruto voice drawls on.

"I promised that I'd bring you back to her." The radio croaks, heaving its last breath. Naruto's message barely comes through as less than a whisper, but I hear it, louder than the ricochet of bullets surrounding me.

"So that's what I'm gonna do."

"Naruto, you listen to me, tell me where you are! That's an order!" But the radio's dead. I slam it against the ground.

It explodes into pieces as the sound of a canon whistles against the wind and destroys the platoon firing at me.

"Bet ya didn't expect that, eh, teme?" The voice is loud, but it's also sheathed in pain. Naruto's been hit. Maybe when we got separated. Maybe just now.

There's a single pause before the Oto ship opens fire. They can't pinpoint me, but they've got a lock on Naruto's position because of the canon.

"Get down! DOWN!" I roar across the field, as shrapnel rains down. It's fire and bullets; the only noise I can hear is the resolve of the machine guns warring down on us from above. But there's a sudden shift; the shrapnel's not being blasted at us, anymore. It's being blasted above.

Across the ground, a shadow dulls the spark of the flames.

It's the airship. Mine. The Konoha 12.

There's a moment of pure war, as the ships fire at each other. The sound fills all of my senses, round after round, but it's nothing I've never heard before. The Konoha 12's winning. Oto's being forced back.

But for what? Maine-quiet town of lobster back in the old world- is destroyed. Across the terrain, Naruto's either dead or alive. Is _this_ what I'm fightin' for? How much has to be destroyed before we win? But you don't get too many moments to think when you're in war. There's another exchange of fire, before Konoha 12 dives down, hovering above me. A straggly ladder falls down from the engine hatch.

"You didn't really think we'd leave without you, did you, Commanders?"

It's Shikamaru. A lazy drawl on his face, as he leans over the hatch, squinting to see me, but his eyes widen when he realises I'm alone.

"Where's Naruto?" He yells against the wind.

"Across the terrain."

"Status?"

I pause. Something in me feels guilty; stirring against my chest. "Unknown."

Shikamaru's eyes widen. Above us, Oto opens fire again. "Sasuke, we've gotta go. There ain't time! There ain't fuckin' time."

"I'm not goin' Shikamaru," I grunt. "I'm not leavin' any of my men behind." And it's stupid; not what you'd expect from Commander Uchiha-heartless and cold-but I'm clinging to a hope that my best friend's alive. We've all gotta hold on to something, right?

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru yells. "Get on the goddamn ship!"

But I'm not gonna leave Naruto 'cos he's alive. I'll kick his ass if he isn't.

"Get the ship outta here!" I snarl. "Head to Cairo, find Gaara, Suna's set up base there!" Another round of shots fire above me; we haven't been hit yet, but Oto's holding ground. There's no time left. "That's an order, Nara!"

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru growls.

I can imagine the snarl etched into his face, but I'm already sprinting across the terrain. The field's blazing, almost as red as the sky, and I can feel the heat of the flames scorching against my skin. The smoke's chokin' me, burnin' me, but I gotta get tp Naruto. And I'm not a quitter, but it can't get worse than this, I think. So maybe this isn't hell on Earth.

Maybe this is just hell.

I make it through, though. Naruto's crumpled form is moulded against the dirt, sunken into a short ledge over the crumbled steps leading up to the main town; I do a rough analysis. Six bullet wounds, though it's hard to make out with all the blood and the blurry vision. There could be more. He's alive though. Barely. I fling him over my shoulder and think of the options. The town church, the major's house, the local clinic. Places with medical supplies and security systems I can rig while I plan the next move.

"Uchiha, if you've got Naruto, grab the ladder and get the fuck on." It's Neji. I can see the rest of Team Gai leaning over the engine hatch as well, rolling down the string ladder.

"Hyuuga, thought I ordered you all to get outta here," I say, but I grab onto the ladder and try to ignore the warmth I can feel leaking over my left shoulder. Blood.

TenTen replies, pulling us up on the ladder. "You didn't seriously think we'd leave without you guys, did you?" There's the sound of another cannon, whistling against the wind, and the sound of its impact -against us or Oto, I can't tell- before Neji slides the hatch shut on the blazing ground beneath us, and the ringing of war dies down. TenTen and Lee smile at me. Neji looks stoic as usual. But their faces all turn grim when they see Naruto; the standard green army uniform he's wearing has turned a shade of mottled brown. "Get him to the OR, I need to command the ship," I tell them, and they immediately rush forward and heave a limp Naruto down the deck halls.

He looks half dead, but Naruto wouldn't die. Not him.

I rub the ring tied tightly against my chest and hope not.

* * *

Shikamaru's weaving through the cluster of islands near Maine; the quiet little village we'd been staying in till now. I can see the whole island up in flames, sections of it eroded away. I guess the war's managed to leave its mark on even the most remote part of the sphere; doesn't leave anything unscathed.

"Uchiha." I can see Shikamaru's smirk in the reflection of the radar. "You look like you should get a check-in yourself."

"Hn," I grunt and slink into the control station operator. "Status on the Oto airship?"

"They retreated. Couldn't handle the heat. Cowards." There's a pause.

"How's Naruto?" Shikamaru asks.

"They took him to OR. We've got a mole on board." Shikamaru shifts sharply towards me.

"Shit," he breathes, slumping against his operator. "I can't imagine anyone..."

"Two times in a row, we've been found," I reply, gripping the navigators tightly. "This ain't a coincidence, I'm startin' an investigation in the morning."

Shikamaru nods. He still looks disbelieving, but there's a look of calculation in his eye that tells me he's already narrowing down the subjects, breaking down any suspicious incidents. I slide out of the operator and set the auto-pilot on a route to Port Head.

"So I suppose we won't be meetin' up with Gaara, anymore," Shikamaru says when he reads the sudden change of course on the computer system overhead.

"Not with a mole on board," I reply, pacing the control room. "Put it on autopilot and have our teams go on night watch, today. Teams we trust."

"Rodger that, Sasuke," he replies with a smirk. Shikamaru never calls me commander, unless the situation's serious. None of 'em do, really. It's become a way of telling when somethin's wrong. Still, I slit my eyes as I'm exiting the centre. "I'll page Team Gai and Team 6," Shikamaru continues.

I turn around sharply. "Who's on Team 6?"

Shikamaru eyes me strangely. "Kiba, Shino and Haku."

I turn around again. All members that had proven their dedication to the Konoha 12. Still, the memory of Naruto's odd words, while we were escaping the watchtower, is enough to put me on the edge. "Switch 'em out with another team." Shikamaru's face frowns in confusion; probably he's friends with 'em. But I can't take any second chances when my right-hand man's got holes in his sides, and I've got a base of operations blown to shreds.

"Alright," he replies finally. Shikamaru may question me, but he trusts my judgement implicitly. "There aren't any other team available, we're missing medics cos' of the civilians."

I frown. "Alright; let Team Gai handle it."

"Rodger that, commander."

So I'm commander again.

* * *

The personal rooms are up on the top deck. Mine's a little way away from the side, commander's perks, it's the biggest. I turn the shower to scorching hot and watch the water run down the drain brown, with traces of red. I've got a few bruised ribs, a grazed thigh and a grazed cheek, but other than that, I'm alright. Eyeing the little pendant dangling from my neck, I smirk.

Maybe it really does bring luck. But then I think of Naruto. My second-in-command, shot up to hell, clutching his little silver cross in his hand, slick with blood, and the smirk slips off my face. There ain't a thing called luck at war. I slip on a clean uniform-everything is done in uniform at war, even sleep- and slip down the decks to the OR. I don't forget to lock the five keypads on my door behind me.

* * *

The OR on ship is a makeshift operation room tucked away from the rest of the place in the hull. It's got a curtain for privacy, and the smell of rubbing alcohol in the air and it's not an OR, but it's as close as we can get on here. There's a wooden sign hanging over the curtain when I get there.

In operation.

"Commander Uchiha." A soft voice breaks out from the silence. It's one of the doctors, draped in a white lab coat and blue gloves. The nametag reads Hinata, and I nod at her.

"Commander Uzumaki sustained eight gunshot wounds. Some of them went straight through. We removed four that were lodged in his chest and ribs." It sounds odd for her to be talking about the gory details of surgery when her voice is gentle and she's got docility written all over her face, but there's a strange determined edge to her demeanour. Like she's fighting for somethin'.

She continues gently, "We're still operating, so you'll have to excuse me. I just thought you might like to know his condition."

I don't reply. Just nod, and try to swallow the numbness building up in me. She gives me a little nod, then returns through the draped curtains and disappears. I try not to look behind the curtain, but I see it anyway. My right-hand man, laid out against the shifty table, looking as dead as a person can be. I've never been squeamish, but I have to swallow hard at the bile rising in my throat. I sit outside, in the makeshift waiting room with a couple of fold out chairs, before they roll him out on a stretcher and into one of the emergency rooms-what used to be a row of offices.

I see the same doctor again as I approach the room. She smiles as I come, and I nod at her.

"He's still under anaesthesia," she says in that same quiet voice, that doesn't suit the blood splattered coat she's wearing. "But he'll be alright."

I nod and murmur my thanks-a very quiet grunt- as she walks away to attend to some civilians who got injured between the ceasefire. I don't go in the room. I stand outside. He's got an oxygen mask secured to his face, and ten different instruments beeping around him. But there's no blood anymore, he's in a standard white patient's gown and the beep of his heart monitor pulses, so I know he'll be okay. I drop the silver cross next to his pillow and walk out.

It glimmers underneath the light of his heart monitor.

* * *

I make a few more rounds around the ship before heading back to the dorm rooms. My body aches all over, but I don't collapse onto the bed. Instead, I lay out my writing tools, an expensive set of pens and paper. It's always the most trivial, basic things that go first in war. We don't get letters much around here; it's too risky to trust anyone with our location. It's kept us notoriously difficult to track, but it comes at a price. Nearly everyone on board succumbs to some degree of isolation. We've all got secret ways of connecting with the outside world. This is mine. A few letters every month, stamped to Bern-a tiny little Switzerland port-and I never expect a reply. But I write it, anyway.

Outside, the ship breaks above the cloud cover. The only small, circular window above my writing station shows endless shades of black and grey, sharp and clear away from the cloud fog.

I scoff.

50 000 feet above ground, but we're as far from Heaven as we can get.

* * *

 _Sakura Haruno_

 _230 Vista Drive_

 _Bern, SW 4131_

 _Hope you've been keepin' your nose out of trouble, baby._ _The dobe got shot on our last mission, but he's got a thick skin. He's okay._ _I know you ain't happy, baby, but I need you in Bern, stayin' safe, you hear me? Stay out of trouble, alright?_

 _When this is all over, I'll come pick you up. We'll go anywhere you want, like we said._

 _Sasuke._

 _END OF CHAPTER ONE: WAR_

 _NEXT CHAPTER: RECOVERY_

* * *

Hi there! If you're reading this, then I guess it means you've read through the first chapter of this story! Thanks! :) This story was inspired by a TV series I used to revere, called Skyland. It's loosely based on that, but other than the premises of the Earth being shattered into blocks, everything else will be Naruto related. I'm on school break right now, so I'll try to upload the next chapter by tomorrow night. I'm working on it right now. :) Anyway, feel free to leave any feedback or a review; constructive criticism, thoughts, suggestions, my grammar's not that great, so if you catch onto anything that's a bit dodgy, I'd be really happy to hear it. Anyway, hope you stick around for the next chapter!

Stella x


	2. Recovery

**CHAPTER 2: RECOVERY**

 _NARUTO_

I don't expect to wake up again. But the first thing I see when I open my eyes are shiny sheets of black hair, pale, pale porcelain skin and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She's looking down at the roster on the end of my bed, but I can see flashes of lilac in her eyes. I've always liked the colour lilac. So yeah, a rather nice sight to be met with when you've just woken up from the dead.

The first thing I feel, though, is the pain. In my chest, along my torso, my upper thigh. But I've been shot before, so I know this pain. It's familiar. The worse sort of pain is the one you don't know how to handle. So, I'm okay for now. The pretty girl's still going through my roster, hasn't noticed I'm awake yet. I'd call out, but there's something over my mouth, and a pressure against my chest that makes it hard to speak. It doesn't matter. She looks up in a few seconds, anyway.

"You're awake." Her voice matches her appearance; soft and gentle, and she's smiling at me like she's been waitin' for me. Well, she's my doctor, so I suppose she has. Still, it's nice. Other than her, the room's empty and a childish thought plays in my mind. Seems like I wasn't missed much.

"You're probably still groggy from the anaesthesia," she continues, coming up to the head of the bed. I'm propped up by a bunch of pillows since we don't have anything fancy like proper hospital beds. I can see her real close now. Real pretty and dainty, but with this hardened edge in her eyes, like she's been through hell and survived. I wonder what she was before this. I can imagine her being a paediatrician, taping up the scrapes from kid's knees and the like. Now she's taping up people every second night. Crammin' their souls back into their bodies. She's gotta hate it, I think. A girl like her don't suit war.

Do you hate it here, pretty girl? Hate it as much as I do?

Her smile is completely gentle though, no animosity or anything. Except for the hardness in her eyes, it'd seem like she alone is untouched by this war. Appearances are always deceiving though. I know a fighter when I see one.

"You sustained eight gunshot wounds, and a minor head wound. It's a miracle there was nothing else. You're a lucky man, Commander Uzumaki." She pauses and looks down at her roster again, but I can see she's blushing somethin' fierce. Finally, she continues, "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried." I have ten different needles stuck into my arms, and it's kinda hard to move when half your body's been wrapped tightly in gauze, but I reach up and tug off my oxygen mask, anyway. She looks alarmed, but I gesture for her to wait a moment.

"You don't have to worry about me, pretty girl." She blushes, and I grin. Cute. "Naruto Uzumaki ain't one to get hurt, believe it!" She giggles, a high-pitched feminine sort of giggle, and I decide that I like hearing her laugh. She moves forward, and unwraps the oxygen mask from my fingers, prying it from my hand. I try to ignore the way her touch jolts me alive, like electricity.

"That's good to hear, Commander Uzumaki," she says smiling her pretty smile. "But you'll need to rest for a few days, your injuries were quite severe." She fixes the needles in my arm, fiddling with the catheter, but removes the oxygen mask. Then gives me a small nod and tucks in the blankets over my chest. I wasn't cold, but I appreciate the gesture, anyway. She gives me another smile, then sails out, clipboard in hand and head bowed so that her hair brushes over her face. I can still see her blush, though, prominent against the white of her cheeks.

I grin. Nice girl.

* * *

"Dobe."

Another visitor. I tug against some of the machines hooked up against me and scramble up against the pillows. Bad idea. My sides sear like unkempt hell, but I always like to play invincible in front of Sasuke. He's the same way with me. We nearly kill each other tryna show who's better, except Sasuke's never seemed to need to try.

I might sound jealous, but I'm not. Really.

I was just never a natural at all this war shit, and that annoys me sometimes. Sakura-chan used to say that wasn't a bad thing, but she ain't around anymore to reassure me. I wish she was.

"Nice of you to make time to visit this poor, awesome soldier, teme," I say.

"Hn, awesome my ass, dobe," he retorts, quick and snappy like we always are with each other, but it's different than usual. The usual smirk he wears like a mask has deepened into a furrow.

"Hey, you're gonna get wrinkles frownin' like that."

"Shut up, dobe. Don't pull that shit again, you nearly killed us both." He pauses, pacing the short distance from the door of the room to the edge of my bed.

"What happened?" He says, in his typical way that makes the question come out more as a demand than a query.

My memory's foggy, but I immediately register what he's talking about. How did we lose each other. What went wrong. See, me and Sasuke are fast sprinters. Down the watchtower to the port in two minutes should've been easy. But it wasn't. Something in me feels guilty, and it's heavier than the pressure of the gauze wrapped around my torso. It makes it hard to speak.

Guilt has a way of doin' that. When you're killin' every battle though, you find a way of puttin' up with it. Tell yourself it's for a good cause.

A good cause. But if it's so good, why aren't we all fightin' for it?

Why do we have enemies?

Sasuke clears his throat and I jolt back to life. I've been silent for too long. I need to say something.

"I saw someone," I mumble, finally. Sasuke doesn't speak. Raises an eyebrow and waits for me to go on. But my memory's still cloudy, images come in fragments. All I remember is a blurred figure, reaching out for help and a pale face with reptilian eyes, so strikingly filled with hate, it cuts past my foggy memory. My mind kicks, and I can remember being pulled down, rolled over, hit once or twice on the side of my head by the butt of a spanner. Left to die in the flames.

Unlucky for them, I don't die too easily.

"They were laid out next to the Mayor's house. Hurt. I thought it was a civilian so I stopped to help." I can't stop the panic clouding my head as I remember. The senses, the feeling of bein' vulnerable. "I turned to call out to you, but they tackled me. Next thing I know, some guy's come over holdin' a pole in his hand." I pause, remembering the assailant's pale white skin, gaunt face and those eyes. Unhuman. Like a snake's. Sasuke eyes me seriously, his whole body tense as he leans against the frame of the door.

"He said somethin' to me," I remember the movement of his lips and the slither of his tongue. Unnaturally long, clicking against thin lips.

"Then he knocked you out," Sasuke finishes, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Yeah," I say, unconsciously I stiffen at the memory. "I think I blacked out for a moment. Woke up and they were gone. I saw the soldiers marchin' down the terrain. Figured you'd need a hand."

"So you rounded up to the weaponry by Town Square. Then you pulled over one of the loaded cannons to the terrain." I nod, as Sasuke finishes for me, piecing together the night. We're silent for a moment, except for the beep of the heart monitor as it pulses.

"What'd he say?" Sasuke asks. He's pacing around the room, wild. He doesn't like the feelin' of not knowing somethin', just like me.

I turn my face away, gripping the railing of the bed tightly, and hiss, "I can't remember." I'm angry. Angry at myself. At my incompetence, my blurry memory. But war ain't a time to slink in self-pity.

"Did you recognise him? The guy that tackled you."

I pause. I remember feelin' surprised, a sense of familiarity and confusion, pickin' up the person decked out on the floor of the concrete pathway that night. The name's on the tip of my tongue, but it dies as I speak. I can't remember. I can't fuckin' remember anything, other than a feeling, and a sense. But who the hell's that gonna help.

"I did," I finally reply, my voice irrationally laced with anger. "But I can't remember who it was, anymore."

"Hn." It's a grunt. Not a judgement, I know, but I retract in anger. It pisses me off. _This_ pisses me off. The war, that night, _everything._ Sasuke notices it, too.

"Calm down," he says, like a command. But I can't.

"What are we fightin' for, teme?" I shoot back. Angry at myself, but angry at everything else too. "I was ready to die that night, but here I am, and I can't help thinkin' what this is all for." I look up. Sasuke's leaning against the doorway, seemingly disengaged, but the furrow of his brow betrays him. He's listening. Maybe, he even understands. There's silence for another moment.

Finally, he murmurs gruffly, "We do what we have to do, and we hope what we're doin' is right." He lets out a breath like he's thought long and hard about these things too; what we're doin', why we're doin' it. "Get some rest, dobe. I'll be back tomorrow. There are more things we need to talk about." He sidesteps out of the room, and I hear his footsteps echo down the corridor of our makeshift OR. Irrationally, I laugh. Sasuke Uchiha, letting down his walls and imparting words of wisdom. It works, though. Staves off the questions and the guilt, because I'm on the right side, I think.

And in war, that's all you wanna know; that you're on the right side.

* * *

The pretty doctor steps into my room again sometime later. I don't know if it's night or day, but maybe I'm attached to her because I'm immediately roused when I hear her call my name. "Are you feeling better, Commander Uzumaki?" She asks, that sweet, little smile still in place as if it's never slipped off before.

"Call me Naruto," I grin, perching myself up against the pillows to meet her eye. There's not much pain as I prop myself up, although that may be thanks to the morphine drip hooked into my arm.

"Oh! Well, okay then, Naruto," she says shyly, her cheeks lighting up with a blush as she stumbles over her words, "I... I'm just here to redo your bandages." She glides up to the head of my bed and grazes the gauze underneath the white patient slip I'm wearing. She hesitates and looks away for a second.

"Do you mind if I unclip your gown?" She asks. Her whole face is rosy pink and ducked down, tryna feign professionality, and I grin to reassure her. Gettin' your shirt taken off by a pretty girl ain't the worst thing in the world, for sure.

"Go 'head," I say, shifting my weight to one side of the bed to make it easier for her. She runs her fingers up the side of my wrapped torso, gently brushing against the wounds along my ribs. "Still tender," she murmurs. It's fascinating to watch her, this pretty, familiar stranger, as the blush dies down in her cheeks and the doctor in her takes over. I feel her hook a finger into the end of the bandage wrapping and begin to undo them slowly. "You're a fast healer," she says after a moment. I smile, an upward tilt of my lips but my eyes are closed, enjoying her presence. Her touch feels cool against the warmth of my skin and her hands glide gently over my stitches as she changes out the gauze bandages.

You don't get many moments like these in war. Peaceful. Relaxing.

She's done soon, though. A quick worker, and skilled, but part of me is disappointed. Kinda wish she was slow and untrained. "I'm done, Naruto," she says, clipping in the last of the gauze over my chest. I feel like I hear disappointment in her voice, but that's probably my own overactive imagination tryna find things that aren't there. "I'll be by to check on you again, soon." She fills something in on the roster at the end of my bed, shoots me another one of her soft, toothless smiles and makes to sweep back out of the room. I don't want her to leave just yet, though. It's strange, and I know it. I barely know this girl, don't even know her name, I realise belatedly as I eye the medic's badge pinned to her uniform, but I like her. She reminds me of someone, but she's different at the same time.

I want to get to know her.

"Wait," I call, although the words stumble out of my mouth as she turns around. Her head tilts expectedly and I scramble to find something to say. "I don't know your name," I settle on. Introductions first, right?

"Oh," she says, like I've caught her off guard. "My name's Hinata."

Hinata. A pretty name and it suits her just fine.

"Hinata," I repeat. "Are you busy right now?" She tilts her head again, questioning.

"Well, you're actually my only patient at the moment," she replies. "I was just going to do some paperwork for supplies."

I grin. Perfect. "Do you wanna go somewhere with me?"

* * *

Hinata wheels me over the top deck of the ship. It's getting light outside, dawn or dusk, I can't tell, but it's a nice sight. I've got a bag of saline solution hooked onto my right arm next to my wheelchair, but I ain't complainin'. Hinata presses herself up against the window, the biggest one we've got on the whole ship, and breathes in awe.

"This is the viewing deck," I tell her. "I used to come up here with my old team all the time." Hinata looks at me from the window. Maybe it was something in my voice, but she crouches down so we're eye level and looks at me with hints of concern embedded into her lilac eyes.

"Your old team?" She asks. Her voice is almost a whisper, but I hear it loudly on the silent deck.

"Yeah," I murmur. "Me, Sasuke and a girl called Sakura. We were Team Seven when we first joined."

She waits, listening and I continue. "I don't know what happened, but Sasuke got Sakura out. Out of this, the rebellion. The war. Left her in Bern, you know? That little Switz port in the middle of nowhere. Course, she'd be safe there. She wasn't happy though. She thought he left her, you know? And Sakura-chan, she was real brave, and strong in Team Seven; a doctor like you, Hinata. A real amazing one. But Sasuke didn't want her in the war so he left her. We left her. I don't know if she's alive."

"Sounds like you both love her. Especially Sasuke," Hinata whispers. She brushes her smooth hand across my cheek and it's only then that I notice one treacherous tear has slipped out. Commander Uzumaki. Crying. Cos he misses his friend. I laugh, to try and cover it up, embarrassed, but Hinata doesn't fall for it.

"It's okay to cry," she says, with a smile. That same, sweet innocent smile. When she's this close to my face, though, I can see that it's fake; practised. I grab her hand and pull her towards the wooden seats up against the window, a viewing area that was once upon a time used by the rich people of the world. It's now filled with only two people. A pretty doctor and a commander in a wheelchair. Me and Hinata. And I'm not rich, I wasn't back on Earth either, but as I look to my side and see this gorgeous girl, breathtaking against the backdrop of the soft sun, I think that that's okay.

I'm lucky enough, anyway.

"What about you, Hinata?" I ask.

She looks over.

"How'd a pretty girl like you end up here?"

She blushes, rosy pink like always when I call her pretty, even though it's one of the truest things I know right now. She fiddles with her fingers and I wait for her to say something.

"My father knew about what would happen. When the Earth began to shatter, he got me and my cousin onto the Liberty." I recognise the name. Liberty was the first airship to take off when the world started breakin' apart. I take Hinata's hand and hold it on my lap. I know this story. "I felt so awful, I thought, what about the people who can't get on?" She continues gently, her voice trembling, lilac eyes shiny with unshed tears.

"But I also felt so so lucky, Naruto. I felt so, so terrible feeling that way, but I was scared." She pauses for a moment, calms her shaky voice. I reach up and brush her hair out of her eyes.

"But then we got hijacked. Oto soldiers came. My cousin and I got captured. They kept us in isolation for months. But that was okay. I didn't mind that." She's crying now, breath shuddering as she grips onto my hand more tightly. I want to tell her to stop, tell her it's okay, that she doesn't need to keep going. But behind the tears, I can see suppressed hurt, like she's been bottling everything up to hide the pain. Going through the motions, pretending to be okay.

"The worst," she whispers finally, "the worst was when they were there, and I wasn't alone." She heaves a quivering sigh, head bowed, eyes low like she can't bear to meet my face. I see white, then. Cold fury pulses through my veins, and it reminds me more clearly than ever what I'm fighting for. For the Konoha 12, Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Team Seven. And now this girl; this gorgeous, broken girl, who's been through hell and back, and survived.

We've known each other for less than a few days, but I reach out to her, press her shuddering form against my body and ignore the tug of the IV drip hooked into my arm.

"I'm sorry," I whisper into her hair. And I say it over and over again, like a mantra. Eventually, I feel her still against my body and I untangle myself to look into her eyes. They're puffy and red from crying, and now that I know her story, I can see the depth of loss rimming her eyes so plainly.

"You're so brave," I say. "So strong."

She rubs her white, lab coat sleeve against her eyes and gives me a tiny smile. Truthful, and painfully vulnerable.

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

We stay up there all day-or night, I don't know, I barely notice the view-and exchange our pasts, secrets, thoughts we've kept bottled up inside of us. It's not a date. We're two people on a warship, fifty thousand feet above ground. But it's something.

If we weren't in the middle of a war, it'd feel like a new beginning.

* * *

 _Naruto Uzumaki_

 _23 Manor Street_

 _Maine, NE 207_

 _Dear Naruto,_

 _I hope you get this letter okay. Air mail's expensive, but my senior offered to ship it off for me. Her name's Tsunade. She's nuts, a total bitch as well, but she's the best doctor in the sphere. I'm risking a lot to let you know I'm okay, so you better be grateful, alright? Not to mention, paper's expensive. I've joined a team of medical corps, we're offering free health services around the sphere. You've probably heard of us, we're called medic nins. I've been with them for a while, but I could never get my hands on some paper to send your way._

 _Take care of yourself, okay, Naruto? Don't go running around, trying to play the hero. If there are too many soldiers against you, I want you to run, okay? I worry about you, now that I'm not there to patch you up after you've done something stupid like charged against a thousand soldiers with only a gun in your hand. And... I need you to keep this a secret for me, okay? I know you'll want to tell Sasuke, but I'll tell him myself when I get my hands on some more paper and ink. I can trust you, right, Naruto?_

 _Stay safe._

 _Sakura_

 _END OF CHAPTER TWO: RECOVERY_

 _NEXT CHAPTER: TRAITOR_

* * *

Hello! :) Thanks for reading this second chapter. I've changed around a few details from the first chapter, new ideas kept coming to me, and I'm a bit more comfortable with formatting now. The main change is that Team 6 is now composed of Kiba, Shino and Haku. Not Kabuto. (Lols, I can't stand him!) Plus the names of the chapters, I thought "Recovery" suited this chapter more.

Anyway, a bit of NaruHina loving, I really love this couple. I think they're so sweet! Also, the first chapter may have made it seem like Sakura's just chilling in Bern somewhere, but we both know she's way too badass for that, right? The next chapter will be told from her POV, and some SasuSaku action will happen. Thanks for sticking around and thank you to the reviewer on the last chapter! The next update should happen by the end of the week. :) Thanks for reading!


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